The lawsuit maintains the city’s sign ordinance allows the director of the Anderson Municipal Development Department to deny an improvement location permit.

It notes that the ordinance contains no objective criteria for the approval or denial of a sign permit and the decision is left to the discretion of the director.

The city’s ordinance allows off-premise freestanding signs along the interstate for Hoosier Park Racing & Casino in an area zoned for industrial use.

“The Zoning Code does not allow other types of off-premise signs to obtain a special exception,” the lawsuit reads. “GEFT cannot seek a “special exception” for its off-premise sign.”

GEFT did obtain a permit for a digital billboard from the state on Oct. 2, 2018, and its application for an improvement location permit was denied by Anderson on Jan. 2.

GEFT previously won a similar lawsuit against the city of Indianapolis and has a lawsuit pending against the city of Westfield.

The Indianapolis Business Journal reported that GEFT's lawsuit alleged Indianapolis violated the First Amendment by having different standards for "on premises" and "off premises" signs. The on-premises signs, which advertise solely for the business in the same location as the sign, are allowed to have digital content. Off-premises signs, which advertise for a business or product located or made available elsewhere, are not allowed to have digital content.

On the same grounds, the suit objected to special regulations on signs that express noncommercial opinions or points of view, such as political, religious or ideological sentiment related to a public election.